I'm only halfway through this chapter and have found something I want to share with you, my readers and friends who also suffer from these debilitating disorders: the rating scale.
Everyone with Fibromyalgia and/or CFS has different circumstances and different levels of pain and abilities. Dr. Campbell says, "To get an idea of how your situation compares to others, place yourself on the CFS/Fibromyalgia Rating Scale."
Rating Scale
100 Fully recovered. Normal activity with no symptoms.
90 Normal activity level with mild symptoms at times.
80 Near normal activity level with some symptoms.
70 Able to work full time, but with difficulty. Mostly mild symptoms.
60 Able to do about 6-7 hours of work a day. Mostly mild to moderate symptoms.
50 Able to do about 4-5 hours a day of work or similar at home. Daily rests required. Symptoms mostly moderate.
40 Able to leave house every day. Moderate symptoms on average. Able to do about 3-4 hours a day of work or activity like housework, shopping, using computer.
30 Able to leave house several times a week. Moderate to severe symptoms much of the time. Able to do about 2 hours a day of work or activity like housework, shopping, using computer.
20 Able to leave house once or twice a week. Moderate to severe symptoms. Able to concentrate for 1 hour or less a day.
10 Mostly bedridden. Severe symptoms.
0 Bedridden constantly. Unable to care for self.
"If there is a discrepancy between your score based on activity level and your score based on symptoms, rate yourself using the severity of your symptoms." So sayeth Dr. Campbell.
Considering my activity level and symptoms, I am currently about a 25. I have been as low as 10 and as high as 70 for activity (with a 30 for symptoms at the same time).
With the help of this course, I am hoping to get to a 40 or 50. Of course, 100 would be ideal but I want to be realistic here!
As I go along in this course, I will share things I learn in an effort to help all of you.
Gentle hugs,
Jessica
Posts
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJenn
Thanks for sharing, this is a very interesting tool. Today I'm a 10. Most days I'm a 15 though. I would love to get to 40, that'd be awesome!
ReplyDeleteTeresa
That is very interesting. I'm probably somewhere in the 25 range too. Thank you for sharing. This helps me put things into perspective.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great scale.....on a good day I am a 30. I plan to share this with my docs. Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info. I never heard of this person before or the course.
ReplyDeleteHmm. It seems that I'm trying to convince myself that I'm 30 points above where I really am. It's hard to stay in denial when you've read something otherwise, lol.
ReplyDelete